Rethinking Credentials for Aviation Sustainability: A DACUM Approach

The pandemic of COVID-19 Millennials aren't the youngest working generation anymore, and Gen Zers are the new kids on the block. This group of individuals, born between 1995 and 2019, already makes up 5% of the total U.S. labor force, roughly 9 million people. However, the skills gap is real and exists, one in which research shows that new college graduates either do not have all the skills employers want, or they are not doing an excellent job of demonstrating those skills in their resumes.

Sustainability programs consistently encounter challenges that threaten the future as a viable academic discipline. It is exceptionally critical that academicians recognize these challenges, their implications and thus devise particular approaches to address them. Therefore, this research aims to identify what constitutes aviation and aerospace sustainability job skills to align better, improve, and fortify course content to support undergraduate and graduate students' future employment. Furthermore, this research intends to reinforce a present research effort to bridge the skills gap between industry needs for sustainability in aviation and aerospace workforce and university curricula.